Into the Deep (20 page)

W
e went back to school after that to get our cars. On the drive, we discussed that we were going to have to stop him tomorrow. We’d have to get to him before he set off the bomb. I hated that we were waiting until the day of to deal with him, but not knowing where he was or where he was keeping his explosives made me feel like we didn’t really have any other option. I hoped that when I saw him next, I could reason with him and persuade him from blowing up the school. I think Brant was just planning to find him and tackle him before he ignited it. Whether or not we had the opportunity to talk to him or tackle him, however, was dependent on us knowing where he was planning to set the bomb off. If we could get there before him, we could stop him before he even set anything up.
     We again met up later that night at my house, this time Charlie bringing with her blueprints of the entire school. All students had a map of the basic floor level, or at least had access to one to help them find their classrooms. Usually they were given out to freshmen during orientation, but what Charlie brought us was a much more detailed map that showed all storage closets and a basement layout. We sat around my dining room table, hunched over the schematic-like map, and tried to think like a murderer.
     “Alright, so here’s the gym,” Charlie said as she drew around the rectangle of the space with a bulky yellow highlighter. The gym is where we would all be on Friday during the assembly.
     “Well it’s not like he’s going to be setting this up beneath the bleachers,” Brant said.
     “Might be a little too obvious,” I agreed.
     “So what’s the most likely place around here?”
     Charlie started to highlight all the exit routes from the gym, a total of four-one at the front of the gym, another to the side and one going to each of the two locker rooms, one for girls and one for boys. “I think he’s got a few options here. He could set up in one of the locker rooms, or possibly this storage closet here.” She pointed to a small room on the map that wasn’t in the gym but shared a wall with it. “But in both cases he’d risk having someone discover him. There shouldn’t be anyone in either of the locker rooms on Friday, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be. And he’d have to carry his explosives down the halls past everyone.”
     “So if not the locker rooms or closet then where?”
     Charlie grabbed another blueprint, this one of the basement. It was printed on a thin sheet of paper and as she laid it over the map of the main level we could see exactly which part of the basement lied beneath the gym. “Here, in the basement. Below the gym, there’s a big storage unit where they keep most the sports equipment-soccer goals for the fields, those roll-y basketball hoops, that kind of stuff.”
     “Okay,” I said, “makes sense since it’s right below the gym, but won’t he still have to walk past everyone with explosives to get down there?”
     Charlie smiled, “That’s what makes it perfect, there’s a service entrance here,” she pointed again to the map, “that leads outside, and there’s big metal double doors for when they have to move something big. All he would have to do is break the lock and he’d be in with easy access. This also gives him a lot more space to…well, build a bigger bomb.”
     As I was looking at the maps before me, things were suddenly more real than they’d ever been. It was eerie how easy this all seemed to be. It was even more unnerving, though, to think that this wasn’t just a possibility, some Hollywood plot we saw in a movie. This was happening. Tomorrow morning, Eric Thompson would be filling the school basement with explosives and would try to kill us all.
     “We’ll have to get to school early,” Brant said.
     I nodded.
     “If he wants to build something big enough to take out the whole gym, it’ll take him some time to get it all set up.”
     “I vote we get there before he gets any of it put together,” I said.
     “Yeah, I’ll second that,” Charlie agreed.
     Our night ended early with plans to meet on the common at six a.m. From there we would head down to the basement and intercept Eric before he could get anything put together. If I couldn’t talk him out of it, Brant was prepared to take him down physically and Charlie would have her cellphone in hand to call for help. Either way, we decided, we would need to tell someone about what he had tried to do, and we couldn’t risk him trying it again, but we needed to have proof first. 

T
he rest of my night went by quietly. Both Mom and Sadie seemed to be taking Dad’s absence better than they had before. We sat down together for dinner, talked, laughed, smiled. It was a happy evening. I had momentarily forgotten about the possible doom that awaited me and the rest of my classmates the following day, and for that I was glad. I needed a break, needed to spend some time with them.
     Before I went to bed that night, however, the sense of worry returned. For the first time, I considered the possibility that I would confront Eric and that I would fail, that we would all fail. It was possible that Eric wouldn’t listen to my words of reason, that Brant wouldn’t take him out in time, that Charlie’s phone call would be made in vain. It was possible that tomorrow we would all die. Thinking about it was surreal. It isn’t often that one has the ability to contemplate the real possibility of their death. All I knew was that this was something I needed to do. That thought was the only thing that kept the fear from capturing my mind. Before I went up to bed that night, I hugged my mom tight and told her that I loved her, I told her that she was a good mom and that she meant the world to me. She was a little taken aback by my sudden declaration, but she laughed it off and kissed me on the forehead before heading off to bed.

B
efore I opened the door to my room, I was surrendered to the idea that I had a sleepless night ahead of me at best, and at worst one that was plagued with nightmares. Then I stepped into my room. With the doorknob still held in my palm, I gasped in shock and quickly shut the door behind me. Brant was in my room. He was sitting at the edge of my bed and was currently fidgeting with the small stuffed bear that I kept there. I wasn’t much of a fan of stuffed animals, but the bear had been a gift from my grandfather who passed away some years back. It was one symbol of my childhood that wouldn’t be easily replaced.
     When he saw me, he set the teddy bear aside as if he were a small child who’d been caught playing in his father’s study. For a moment, I stood in silence, still reeling from the surprise of his presence. Then the feeling of a chilly breeze brought me back to reality.
     “Brant, what are you doing here?” I asked in a whispered voice. “And how did you get in here?”
     “Window,” he said with a shrug.
     That was when I noticed that the light draft I had felt came from my bedroom window which still stood slightly ajar. The thin curtains surrounding its pane fluttered softly in the wind.
     “You have a rather nice tool shed below it that was easy to climb up.”
     “Mom likes to garden. Why are you here?”
     “I thought I’d be romantic and surprise you.”
     “No offense, but sneaking into my room comes off a little more creepy and stalker-ish then romantic and sweet.”
     Brant stood up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out. I can go.” He took a step toward the window but I moved forward and grabbed his arm to stop him.
     “No, don’t go… I’m not creeped out, you surprised me is all. Next time you plan to play creature of the night, just give me a heads up okay?”
     He smiled. “Okay,” he said then leaned in to kiss me. “So, there’s going to be a next time then?” he asked when we pulled away.
     I slapped his chest playfully then made my way over to my dresser to grab a pair of pajamas. “If we survive tomorrow that is.” I didn’t meet his eyes as I turned back around. Instead I stared intently down at my hands which held a pair of green and pink plaid pajama shorts and a grey tank top. When I finally looked up, Brant had walked over to stand before me. His hands rose to rest on my arms and he looked down at me with a comforting gaze. His hands moved up and down rubbing my arms and he smiled at me.
     “Nothing bad is going to happen tomorrow, I promise.”
     “You can’t know that.”
     “I know enough, we’re the good guys, yeah? And, the good guys always win.”
     It was silly, but it made me smile and that alone was enough to raise my spirits for the time being.
     Seeing my mood pick up, Brant let go of my arms and took a step away from me. “I’ll, um, be over here while you change,” he said, gesturing to the clothes I held in my hand.
     I watched as he wandered over to the other side of the room and turned away from me to stare attentively at the photos and posters that lined my wall. It was strange, he’d seen me naked and yet it still felt comforting to have him look away for me to change. I quickly disrobed and dressed in my pajamas. The whole time, Brant hadn’t so much as peeked in my direction. It wasn’t until I padded toward the bed and cleared my throat that he turned back to me.
     “I don’t have to stay if you don’t want, if you’re worried about your mom, or…”
     “I want you to stay, Brant.”
     He smiled at me and I got into bed. As I pulled my comforter up to my chin, I watched him shed his jacket and slip off his shoes. He placed the dark coat over the back of my desk chair and left the shoes beside the bed. Then he hesitated for a moment as if unsure of how comfortable he was allowed to get. After a few minutes, he mustered up some courage as he pulled off his t-shirt, setting it with his jacket, and then began to unclasp his belt.
     As he undressed, I found that I was incapable of offering him the same politeness that he had offered me. My eyes seemed to be glued to the muscles of his back with every move he made. His body was lean, not a hulking mass of muscles, but fit and athletic. Then he turned back to me and my eyes darted away from his sun-kissed skin and sought out his eyes. I felt myself blush just ever so slightly but did my best to hide my embarrassment. Brant stalked toward the bed in nothing but his boxers and quickly slid beneath the covers to lie beside me.
     We lied side by side for a moment, facing one another but not touching. His eyes traced the outline of my face as I took in all of his features just the same. It was almost as if we were both afraid to move anything more than the eyeballs in our heads, as if by doing so the moment we had would be lost.
     “Ivy, I really do, I… I like you a lot.”
     I smiled. “I feel the same about you.”
     I scooted closer to him and his arms wrapped around me. He pulled me tight to him and kissed me softly on the forehead. His skin against mine, the heat of his body keeping me warm, it reminded me that I’m not alone. I nestled into his form.
    
“Brant?” I asked after a moment, my voice reverberating through the shadows.
     “Yeah?”
     “What did you do after your mom left?”
     I felt him stiffen behind me and I worried that I’d overstepped some invisible boundary, worried that what I’d asked wasn’t for me to know. Then I felt him exhale and he relaxed.
     “We looked for her… at first it was just calling friends and family, then the police. Her photo was on the news, in papers, posters. We did a lot of things.” He was quiet for a moment and when he spoke again, it was with a softer voice. “None of it made any difference though, we didn’t find her. Didn’t find any clues, no credit card receipts to tell where she may have been, didn’t catch a glimpse of her on a security camera, nothing. She just vanished.”
     “I’m sorry.”
     “Don’t be… maybe there’s just some things we can’t control… and sometimes I wonder if it’s better not knowing.”
     I nodded into my pillow, understanding completely what he meant. Brant tightened his arms around me and within his embrace, I found the comfort I needed to find a peaceful sleep.

26

Save Me

I
woke that morning at five a.m. to the screeching of my alarm clock. It startled me from sleep, but the feeling of Brant’s arm wrapped around my middle quickly calmed me. As I reached toward my end table to silence my alarm, I felt his hold on me tighten, the soft hairs on his arm tickling the exposed skin between my tank top and the waistband of my shorts. I twisted around in his grasp so that I was facing him and I found his eyes open. They twinkled down at me, their lids still heavy with sleep and he smiled.
     “Morning.”
     “We should get up,” I said, my voice still sleepy and low.
     “We have an hour before we need to be there.”
     “I need to get ready.”
     He frowned, “You don’t need to get all dressed up to do what we need to do today.”
     I stared at him for a moment thinking things over. I wanted to do nothing but lie in bed with him all day. I didn’t need to kiss him, didn’t need to be wrapped up in some passionate affair with him. Being beside him was enough. I resigned to stay in bed for a short while longer, but eventually did get up to shower and throw on a little makeup.
     I dressed simply, in jeans and a navy V-neck t-shirt. I threw my hair up into a ponytail then left the bathroom and walked quietly back into my room. There I found Brant already dressed and waiting for me. Little conversation passed between us as I found shoes and grabbed my orange ALH zip up from my closet. Even though I wasn’t actually planning to go to the assembly, I still dressed in our school colors. Partly because I didn’t want to stand out, but also because they were comfy and didn’t require much thought as far as planning an outfit goes. We were the Alta Ladera Eagles and our colors were burnt orange and navy blue. Those would be practically the only colors I would see that day. Except on Brant, he was dressed in varying dark shades of black and grey. That was just Brant though, I couldn’t picture him in burnt orange, it wouldn’t look right.
     Cautiously we left my room, Brant following behind me as I peered out into the hallway to make sure that my mom wasn’t up yet. She wasn’t, as the house was still silent. Quietly we made our way downstairs and I left Mom a note on the kitchen counter saying I’d gone to school early to talk to one of my teachers. Then we left.